ization and don't want It to go dny fur- ther, the Allies worry about "Sinofica- tion" of the war in the South, at least in terms of weaponry. But if negotia- tions move ahead, it should be possible to work out terms under which guerrillas can return to their home villages, buy food, and perhaps even collect taxes and do some proselytizing in villages where they have been doing these things all along. Since it would be foolish to think this wouldn't happen, the best thing to do would be to ac- cept the fact and simply try to set limits to violence. Such questions lead naturally to what are called political lllodcllities, which chiefly concern the method of holding elections for a new South Viet- namese Assembly or a Constitutional Con vention. (The former seems pref- erable. ) The suggestion has heen made by SOllle French experts here that each of the two sides first hold its own elections for a separate National Assem- bly, or some other sort of popularly chosen body, and that cOlllmittees of both then work out the procedure fOI the election of a single Asseillbly, which would select a teillporary President pending the election of a perillanent one within a specified tÎtlle. That could con- ceivably work, and lllight satisfy the Communists' insistence on a provisional coalition governillent. The obvious Al- lied objection is that it would give the Communists a larger representation than they deserve-which both Saigon and \Vashing- ton insist should be no more than twenty-five per cent of the total popular vote. One way around this might be to hold elections on a provincial, or even a district, basis fi rst- partIcularly SInce no district or pro vi n c e chiefs have yet been elected in South Viet- naill. ( Only hamlet chiefs, village councils, and provincial councils have been elected so far.) At any rate, it would eem logical that the process of local accommodation should proceed according to a tÍtlletable par- alleling a compromIse at the central level of the Presidency and the Nation- al Assembly. And as both processes went on, the views of thE' various reli- gious elements in South Vietnam-not only the Buddhists and the Catholics but the Hoa Hao and Cao I)ai sects and the Khmer and Montagnard mi- norities-would have to be fully taken into account. If they weren't, the whole procedure not only would be 1lleaning- less but would probabl} break down I\S for the problems of Laos and n Càmbodia-of the degree to which they lllight initially or subse- quently be brought into the negotIa- tions, as Nixon proposed-these two countries llluSt he considered separate- ly. In principle, Laos should present no problem. Though some fighting has continued there-in the northern areas around the Plain of Jars and, to a less- er degree, in the south-the situation has reillained much the same for sev- era] 1110nths pending renewed discus- sions between repl esentatives of the Conl1llunist front and the Vientiane government of Prince Souvanna Phou- 1l1a. Efforts at re-creating the sort of coalition gavel nillent that was estab- lished in 1962 under Souvanna, but with greater COlllmunist representa- tion, have bogged down in the last few weeks, chiefly because Sou vanna is va- cationing in France. Those he desig- na ted to speak for hilll have made little or no progress with the delegates of Prince Souphanouvong, Souvanna's half brother, who is Hanoi's spokesman for the Lao Communists. Essentially, everyone agrees that the Laos problem can he settled within the fraillework of c("lrlier accords, and thi" is sOlllething that both Russia Lind China want at the lllo1llènt, for separate reasons. Hanoi, too, seelllS eager to settle its "- surrogate war in that country, especially now that it is fighting on a broader front in Calll- bodia. Even a lilllited cease-fire in Laos could ha ve an imlnediate Î1n- pact, for it would more or less neutralize the northern Plain of Jars area and bring a bomb- ing halt there pending a broader political settleillen t ; then the i\nlericans and the North Vietnanlese would presul11ably negotiate a cessation of the b(HnbIng of the H 0 Chi Minh Trail area in eastern Laos, which would beCOllle a Cent! al issue in any bombing halt for the whole of Indo- China. In this sense, a settlement in Laos could provide an important basis for ï settlement in Vietnam. Cambodia presents a more complex problem. SInce the overthrow of Prince Norodom Sihanouk by Lon Nol, on March 18th, and the subsequent Ailleri- can and South Vietnalnese invasion of 177 I "., The Thoroughbred Race Horse Racing at Beautiful Belmont Park. August 31 through October 17. First race 1:30. The Exacta and . nIne races. Enjoy fine dining at three great restaurants. For reservations at Belmont Terrace, call (516) 488-1740.